''\ 
 
 
 
 ^^%^.^ s. 

 
 L I B RARY 
 
 OF THE. 
 
 U N IVLRSITY 
 
 or ILLINOIS 
 
 I
 
 yt/ 
 
 MAERTAGE 
 
 CONTRARY TO THE 
 
 HOLY LAW OF GOD 
 
 AND TO THE 
 
 LAWS AND CUSTOMS OF THE JEWS. 
 
 TO THE TEACHING 
 
 ®Utt jaxtxjtr Jt^U^ (Mimx^t 
 
 AISTD OF HIS APOSTLES 
 
 NATURE 
 
 Rev. T. BERNEY, A.M., 
 
 RECTOK OF BEACON ASH. 
 
 Joubon: 
 
 MDCCCLXXXV. 
 
 ENTERED AT STATIONERS' HALL. THE RIGHT OF TRANSLATION RESERVED. 
 
 SECOND EDITION. ENLARGED. 

 
 iT Jnn^; t^ ,^^io<H^i^. 
 
 V A CHER & Sons, Printers, 
 29, Parliament Street, and 62, Millbank Street, Westminster, S.W.
 
 Beacon Hall, 
 
 Beacon Ash, Noewich, 
 
 Monday^ March 2nd^ 1885. 
 
 TO THE HONOURABLE THE COMMONS OF THE 
 UNITED KINGDOM OF GREAT BRITAIN AND 
 IRELAND IN PARLIAMENT ASSEMBLED. 
 
 May it please your Honourable House: 
 
 Inasmuch as it has become manifest to me that a very large number 
 of the Peers of your Lordships' House have been grievously led into 
 error and deceived, respecting the breadth, meaning and intention of the 
 Holy Law of God, as contained in Leviticus, chapter xviii., and in 
 Deuteronomy, chapter xxv., and other parts of Holy Scripture, which 
 shew what must be held to be the teaching of our Lord Jesus Christ and 
 of His Apostle, St. Paul, respecting marriages forbidden from nearness 
 of kin ; and also in respect of the Oral Law and custom of the Israelitish 
 people from the same times of antiquity ; and especially in reference to 
 any marriage with a deceased wife's sister ; I have felt it to be my duty 
 to your Lordships' House, and to Her Most Excellent Majesty the Queen, 
 and to my beloved country, I having been called of God as a Prophet of 
 the Lord, to set forth the simple truth as it is before God, and to expose 
 some, at least, of the deceptions which have been foisted upon your 
 Lordships' House and Parliament and the country generally, whereby 
 from your Lordships' increasingly misguided action and tendency in 
 respect of this momentous subject during the last few years, together 
 with the present unrighteous law of divorce, I do verily believe that, for 
 some years, the blessing of Almighty God has been more and more 
 alienated from our country, till terrible disasters fell upon the armies 
 in the Soudan, and would have culminated in still more complete 
 disasters at the battles of El Teb and Tamanieb, but for the very 
 urgent warning which I, as a Prophet of the Lord, went up to London 
 and gave personally to the War Office, through Lord Wolseley's 
 Secretary, that the intended and announced formation of the Force 
 for the then coming battle of El Teb must be changed entirely; 
 and that they must on no account attack the ready-prepared position 
 
 A 2
 
 of the enemy on its front, for, if they did, they would be cut to 
 pieces to a man. In consequence^ I believe, of my reiterated declaration, 
 and proof, which caimot be denied, of my calling as a Prophet of the 
 Lord, the formation of the Force was changed to that of a square: and, 
 although they did still purpose to attack the position in front, the 
 commander found the necessity, from finding four guns ready in position, 
 of wheeling round and taking it in flank and rear : but, having done so, 
 it became manifest, that, from the whole foreground being prepared with 
 a very extensive arrangement of rifle-pits, each concealed behind a bushy 
 plant of broad-leaved evergreen Dwarf Palm,* and filled with warriors 
 efficiently armed for the nonce, utterly reckless of life or death, our whole 
 Force, had they charged the position in front, would, as I vehemently 
 declared, have been cut to pieces. 
 
 I proceed to shew that for Parliament to pass a Bill to legalize 
 marriage with a deceased wife's sister would be to defile the land with 
 incest, and would bring down a curse of God upon the nation.f (Deu- 
 teronomy xi., 26-28.) The first passage harped upon by the promoters 
 of incest is Leviticus xviii., 18. 
 
 The rendering here of islisliah el-ahhothah in our version by " one to 
 another " is objectionable : for inasmuch as the breadth of God's restric- 
 tion in Leviticus xviii., 16, positively forbids marriage with a deceased 
 wife's sister; and that ^' God is not a man that he should lie, neither the 
 son of man that he should repent" (Numbers xxiii., 19); so that even 
 in the merciful provision through the law of the Yeboom (Deuteronomy 
 XXV.) the brother-in-law was always in ancient times released from that 
 duty, when the deceased brother's widow was his own wife's sister ; \ 
 we must look for another rendering of the words, compatible with the 
 word of truth ; as in the case of Moses (Exodus xxvi.) ordered to 
 arrange the curtains of the Tabernacle ; where since each curtain was 
 
 Note. — * I have myself, while travelling in Sicily, had to ride on a mule across a 
 plain thickly studded with such plants, though not perhaps so vigorous : and I can fully 
 appreciate how perplexing, harassing and deadly a position so prepared and so defended 
 Avould be to a force assaulting with a rush; and how each British cheer would he con- 
 verted into a cry of warning anguish, as each brave soldier, stumbling and speared, fell 
 into a rifle-pit. 
 
 Is OTE. — t 26 Behold I set before you this day a blessing and a curse ; 27 A blessing, 
 if ye obey the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you this day : 
 28 And a curse, if ye will not obey the commandments of the Lord your God. (Deu- 
 teronomy xi.) 
 
 -Note. — X S«e Seder-Nashim, Treatise Yebamoth, in numerous sections in 
 Chapters I., II., III., XI. and XIII.
 
 forty-two feet in length and six feet in depth, and each to be fastened at 
 the end by fifty loops ; and that there were eleven of such curtains to be 
 so fastened; it is manifest that the rendering "coupled one to another" 
 is objectionable : for that he clearly had to hang them up and fasten 
 them one after the otlier : or as in Isaiah xxvii., 13, where leahhad elihad^ 
 which are of the same word, are rendered '' and ye shall be gathered one 
 by one"; or as Dr. Julius Fuerst, in his Hebrew and Chaldee Lexicon of 
 the Old Testament, renders it, "one after the other, singly"; and again, 
 in Isaiah Ixvi., 17, where he renders it '^ shall be consumed one after the 
 other, man for man." 
 
 Furthermore, the expression legliaUoth ^ervathah as rendered is not 
 at all to my satisfaction. It always includes the notion of turpitude and 
 moral defilement. It implies here the contracting of an incestuous union 
 with her. Maimonides repeatedly renders 'ervah incest. The rendering 
 in the Authorised Version is like a witness speaking truth, but not the 
 whole truth. The full meaning of the expression is "to commit incest 
 with her." , . V "^ ' 
 
 The passage ends with the Hebrew word heJihaiyeyha^ which they 
 whose letters they quote invariably translate to suit their own purpose, 
 namely, to argue therefrom that, when the wife is dead, the man may 
 
 marry her sister. ^ . V / ^ .\ .-^ sV r r . f . • 
 
 Many Hebrew Avords are compound.' A preposition is prefixed to a 
 noun, and a pronoun is suffixed. Thus, in this instance, the first syllable 
 he is in ; and the last syllable ha is her ; and the noun between them is 
 simply life; there is nothing whatever about time either in the words or 
 in the sense. Marriage with a wife's sister is forbidden because, by 
 marriage, the husband had become one flesh with his Avife, or literally 
 flesh of her fleshy (rendered "near of kin" in the 6th verse of our 
 Authorized Version) ; and had therefore also become flesh of the flesh of 
 her sister by the absolute physical change which he himself had under- 
 gone. This is one of those things in Scripture apparently hard to be 
 understood by some people, especially by those who are intentionally 
 blind: and yet both the verses 15 and 16 contain cases analogous to it: 
 but I will presently prove it indisputably from Nature. 
 
 To those unacquainted with Hebrew it is yet perhaps known, that 
 wherever in the text of the authorised version, a word, or a part of a 
 word, is in italics, it is to be understood that there is no word iti the 
 original text answering to it. The idioms of the two languages are so
 
 6 
 
 different, that the translators introduced words, according to their 
 judgment, to assist the English reader. Thus, Psalms civ., 16, 17, 
 " The cedars of Lebanon, where the birds make their nests : as for the 
 stork, tlie fir trees are her house:" while in the Prayer Book version we 
 have — ^' and the fir trees are a dwelling for the stork." 
 
 Thus in Leviticus, chapter xviii., 18, we have, "to vex her in her 
 life time-.'''' but I consider the word time to be both superfluous and 
 erroneous; and the expression, "to vex her in her life," to be only 
 incidental; to shew the natural result of jealousy; which must necessarily 
 arise between a married woman and her sister, in any country where 
 such subsequent marriage is allowable, whether it will certainly take 
 place or not: the feeling expressible in the words "he may some day 
 marry my sister " will be quite sufficient " to vex her in her life," 
 and to preclude all possibility of her welcome to the sister; and thus 
 to deprive the latter of that which, as the law now stands, may often 
 afford to her a peaceful and happy home; and of the opportunities 
 of being a comfort and help to her married sister, and a blessing to her 
 children. .• r;.f ' * 
 
 A rendering to embody the truth, the whole truth and notlimg but 
 the trutli, should be, " Neither shalt thou take a wife to her sister, though 
 one after the other ^ to commit incest with her, over her, to vex her in her 
 life :" and idiomatically " to worry her out of her life." '^ ^ " | 
 
 The illegality of marriage with a deceased wife's sister, un3er the 
 Lcvitical Law, is, moreover, fully shewn by Leviticus xviii., 16, where 
 the breadth of the Law of God, though in this case by no means 
 " exceeding,"* becomes manifest, as it is in many other cases. The man 
 is the head of the wife, and the head of the human race ; and a command 
 or restriction imposed upon man includes and imposes the like command 
 and restriction upon woman. The Tenth Commandment to man " Thou 
 shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife," is equally the command to woman, 
 "Thou shalt not covet tliy neighbour's husband;" and, in like manner, 
 in verse 16, the restriction imposed upon man in respect of his brother's 
 wife, whether the brother be alive or dead, with the extreme exception of 
 the injunction imposed upon a deceased husband's brother by the Law of 
 the Yeboom (Deuteronomy xxv., 5-11) in the sole event of the deceased 
 having no child, includes and imposes the like restriction upon woman in 
 respect of her sister's husband, wliether the sister be alive or dead. The 
 
 Note. — * Psalm cxix., 96, Thy commandment is exceeding broad.^ ' ' '^:'^
 
 relationship, by the having become flesh of his or her flesh respectively by 
 the rite, and by the rites of marriage commonly so called, is identically 
 the same in each case. 
 
 Marriage with a deceased wife's sister, therefore, is strictly prohibited 
 by this phasis of the Holy Law of God ! ! 
 
 But there is yet another phasis of the prohibition of such marriages, 
 and any of the like, whether of a man with his niece or aunt, arising from 
 the breadth of the Holy Law of God as exhibited in Leviticus xviii., for 
 ^^ it is confusion/' 
 
 The usual plea for such marriages, set up by the promoters of them, 
 is, that upon the death of the mother of a family, no one can be found so 
 fitting to take charge of the children as her own sister. But this, my 
 Lords, her sister can do now ! With the law, as it now stands, the sister 
 of a deceased wife can with propriety come and take up her abode in the 
 house of her brother-in-law, and gain the affection of the children, and 
 the respect of every one else ; and, possibly, thousands of ladies are at 
 this time so dwelling, and so occupied, in this land, happy and honoured, 
 yet with no desire to marry the brother-in-law ; but who, were the present 
 prohibition of marriage with him to be removed, must at once withdraw 
 from such their happy homes. 
 
 Were, however, such a marriage in any particular case to arise from 
 the proposed infringement of the Holy Law of God, and a second family 
 to result from it, it would be impossible accurately to define the relation- 
 ship of the members of the two families to each other respectively : in 
 respect of the father they would be in the relationship of brothers or 
 sisters ; while in respect of their mothers respectively, the children of 
 either mother would be first cousins of the children of the other mother. 
 ' Thus there would be utter "confusion;" which, according to Leviticus 
 xviii., is contrary to the Divine Will, and is, and manifestly ought to be, 
 forbidden ! In the next generation there would be '' confusion " doubly 
 confounded ! ! 
 
 Marriage with a deceased wife's sister, therefore, is strictly pro- 
 hibited by every phasis of the Holy Law of God ! ! ! 
 
 * Let us now turn our attention to the Oral traditionary Law of the 
 Jewish people, now commonly called the Mishna ; and to the custom of 
 the Israelites from the early times of antiquity, under the government 
 
 * As for legislating for the poor, contrary to and in defiance of the Holy Law of 
 God, it would be a work of supererogation : for the lowest orders, like Gallio, " care for 
 none of these things," and simply follow their own bent.
 
 of Moses, in respect of the law of the Yehoom, otherwise called the 
 Levirate; and eventually to the strong and important light upon it 
 which may be perceived from the teaching of om* Lord : for while He 
 severely censures the doctrines of other parts of the Oral Tjaw, called 
 in our version ^'traditions" (as in St. Mark vii., 1-14, and their law of 
 divorce,) He does not censure their fulfilling of the law of the Yeboom. 
 This is very touchingly exhibited in the Book of Euth. Thus we may 
 come to the decided conclusion, that their fulfilment of their duties 
 under that law was maintained, pure and undefiled, at the date of our 
 Lord's ministry ; as is indeed exhibited clearly in the various chapters 
 of the Treatise Yehamothj Avhich treats of it, and is taken from Seder 
 Nashim or the Book relating to Women ; and shew what was the reading 
 of the Israelites of the verses herein alluded to from Leviticus xviii.; and 
 that the three passages found in a subsequent part of that Treatise and 
 utterly contradictory of the original ; and which the promoters of incest 
 love to harp upon; are spurious and corrupt interpolated passages of 
 many hundred years later date ; arising from the isolation, persecution 
 and miseries which that unhappy people suffered subsequently to the 
 dis]3ersion of the Jews, in A.D. 70, and others also; but of this more 
 anon. 
 
 I may here mention en jmssant, that the denomination of Jews 
 called "The Reformed Jews" are a mere set of Dissenters from the 
 Orthodox Jews : and I am informed on reliable Jewish authority, that 
 they sprang up into notice only at about the beginning of this century. 
 Marriage with a deceased wife's sister is admitted among them ; as it is 
 also in Germany and Switzerland. Dr. Marks is the Chief Rabbi in 
 England of this Jewish Sect:^^ and I trust that I need hardly point out to 
 your Honourable House, that letters and opinions quoted upon this 
 subject, as they, have been and are, from Dr. Marks, Dr. F. Adler, 
 and other learned Hebrew Professors who are members of these Sects; 
 whether English, German, Swiss or other ; are but ea^ parte statements, 
 and therefore of no reliable value whatsoever ! 
 
 I have before me an English translation (London, 1845) of such 
 Books of the Mishna as were considered necessary by the Vestry Board 
 of the Sphardin Synagogue for its consideration for improving its public 
 worship, by the two Jewish Rabbis, the Rev. D. A. De Sola, and the 
 
 * As Dr. N. Adlcr was or is of the Jews who adopt the German Rite.
 
 9 
 
 Rev. M. J. Rapliall ; and as It contains the several Treatises from the 
 Seder NasMm^ or the Book of Laws relating to Women, Yebamoth, 
 Ketuhoth, Gettin and Kedusliin^ and is of such authority, it will be 
 sufficient for our present purpose. It commences with an introduction : — 
 
 Seder Nashim. 
 
 Treatise Yebamoth. 
 
 Introduction. 
 
 This Treatise contains laws relating to the precept of Yeboo7n, i.e.^ 
 the obligation of marrying the childless widow of a deceased brother 
 (see Deuteronomy xxv. 5-11), and the ceremony of Chalitzah^ or the 
 taking off the shoe by the widow to her brother-in-law, in case he refuses 
 to marry her (Deuteronomy xxv., 9). 
 
 In the first place, it must be premised that a surviving brother can 
 marry only one of his brother's widows. 
 
 Secondly, that when circumstances exist which w^ould render such 
 marriage unlawful, as, for instance, if the parties were related to each 
 other within the degree of consanguinity prohibited by the Holy Law to 
 intermarry, the precept of Yeboom is superseded, and even the ceremony 
 of Chalitzali is unnecessary. 
 
 Thirdly, that when the brother-in-law cannot marry the widow on 
 account of near affinity, he may not marry any of the other wives of his 
 deceased brother, who in the technical term of the Mishna are called 
 rivals, tsaroth (see our first note) . 
 
 This treatise contains also many regulations having reference to the 
 marriage laws in general, and is the first of the class or division of the 
 Mishna called Nashim, or laws relating to women [/.e., to marriage, 
 divorce, &c.], because Yehoom is not a voluntary action, like marriage, or 
 divorce, as the person on whom that duty devolves can be judicially 
 compelled either to marry his widowed sister-in-law, or to allow her to 
 perform the ceremony of Chalitzah to him. 
 
 Chap. I., § 1. Fifteen classes of women release themselves, their 
 rivals, and the rivals of these ad infinitum^ from the obligation of Chalitzah 
 and Yehoom. These are [when the widow of the deceased is], (1) the 
 
 Note 1. — By this appellation, the Mishna designates the several wives of one man, 
 who are called tsaroth [i.e. troubles, adversaries, or rivals], to each other, inasmuch as 
 Kimchi observes in his commentary [to I. Samuel 1., 6, where this word occurs] they are 
 most often sources of trouble, jealousy, and vexation to each other. 
 
 A 3
 
 10 
 
 [illegitimatej daughter of the brother, or (2) her daughter, or (3) the 
 daughter of his [illegitimate] son, or (4) his wife's daughter, or (5) 
 her son's daughter, or (6) her daughter's daughter, or (7) his mother-in- 
 law, or (S) the mother of his mother-in-law, or (9) the mother of his 
 father-in-law, or (10) his uterine or maternal sister, or (11) his mother's 
 sister, or (12) his wife's sister, or (13) the Avidow of his uterine or 
 maternal brother, or (14) the widow of a brother who had not been 
 contemporary with him, or (15) his daughter-in-law. All these release 
 their rivals, and the rivals of tliese, ad infinitum, from the obligation of 
 Ghalitzali and Yehoom. 
 
 Chap. II., § 3. A rule obtains in respect to marriage by Yehoom. 
 Every woman whom it is unlawful to marry, by reason of being within the 
 degrees of relationship forbidden to intermarry, may not perform the 
 ceremony of Chalitzalij nor can be married by her brother-in-law by 
 Yeboom; and all women who cannot be so married, owing to other legal 
 prohibitions, or on account of holiness of station, must perform the 
 cermony of Chalitzah, but may not be married to the brother-in-law by 
 Yehoom. When of two sisters [who had been married to two brothers] 
 one only can be legally married [to a third or surviving brother], she is 
 bound either to give CJialitzah, or to marry that brother-in-law by 
 Yehoom, 
 
 § 6. When a person has given KedusJiin [i.e. betrothing] to one of 
 two sisters, and does no longer know to which of them he gave it, he 
 must give Get^ i.e.., a letter of divorce to each. If he left at his decease 
 one brother only, that brother must cause both [sisters] to perform 
 Chalitzah to him. If he left two brothers, one must have Chaliizah 
 performed to him, and the other may marry the sister-in-law by Yehoom^ 
 but if these brothers had already married the sisters, in anticipation, 
 they are not to be separated from them. 
 
 § 7. When two men [who are strangers to each other] have each 
 of them betrothed one of two sisters, and neither of these two men 
 know which sister he has betrothed, then each man must give two Gets 
 [letters of divorce] to the sisters. 
 
 If [the men] died, and each left a brother, these brothers must have 
 Chalitzah given to them by both sisters. If one of the men had one 
 brother, and the other two, in the case of one brother only, he must have 
 the Chalitzah performed by both sisters ; and in that of the two brothers, 
 one must have Chalitzah performed to him, and the other brother may
 
 1;! 
 
 maiTj his brotlier's widow by Yeboom, but if they had already married 
 the sisters in anticipation, they are not to be separated from them. 
 
 If each man left two brothers, one brother of each pair must have 
 Ghalitzah performed to him by one of the sisters, and the other brother 
 of each pair can then marry by Yeboom one of the sisters released by the 
 ChalitzoJi performed to the other brother. If two brothers had already 
 in anticipation received Ghalitzah from the sisters, the latter are not to 
 be separated from them. 
 
 Chap. III., § 1. When, of four brothers, two married two sisters, 
 and they who had married the sisters, died : the sisters must give Ghalitzah^ 
 but may not be married to the brothers-in-law by Yeboom; and if they 
 had prematurely married them, they must send them away. R. Eleazar 
 saith, '' According to Beth Shammai such a marriage is valid; but 
 according to Beth Hillell, they must be separated." 
 
 § 2. If one of these sisters is prohibited to maiTy one of the brothers, 
 owing to a prohibited degree of relationship between them, [although] 
 he may not marry her, yet may he marry her sister, and both sisters are 
 prohibited to the other brother. If one of these sisters is prohibited 
 only on account of legal prohibition [by the Babbins], or of holiness of 
 station, she must perform Ghalitzah^ but he may not marry her by Yeboom. 
 
 § 3. When one of the sisters is prohibited to marry one brother, 
 and another sister the other brother, owing to prohibited degrees of 
 relationship between them, then she who is prohibited to one brother may 
 marry the other; and this is the case to which allusion is made [above], 
 where [it] is said, '' When, of two sisters, one only can be [lawfully] 
 married by Yeboom^ she must either perform the ceremony of Ghalitzah 
 or be married by Yeboom^ 
 
 § 4. When, of three brothers, two were married to two sisters, or 
 to a mother and daughter, or to a grandmother and her grand-daughter, 
 either her son's, or her daughter's daughter, then these women must per- 
 form Ghalitzahj but cannot be married by Yeboom, R. Simeon releases 
 them from the obligation of Ghalitzah. If any of these could not be 
 married [to the third brother] on account of prohibited degree of relation- 
 ship to him, he may not [indeed] marry her; but he may marry her 
 sister. If one of the sisters is prohibited to him, only on account of 
 legal prohibition [by the Rabbins], or on account of holiness of station, 
 she must perform Ghalitzah to him, but he may not marry her by Yeboom. 
 
 § 5. When, of three brothers, two are married to two sisters, and
 
 12 
 
 the tliircl brother is uimiarried, if one of tlie married brothers died, 
 and the single brother made a promise of marriage to the widow, and 
 subsequently the second brother died also, in this case, Beth Shammai 
 teacli, he must keep his wife [i.e., her to whom he promised marriage], 
 and the other is as sister of his wife, released from the duty of Ckalitzah', 
 but Beth Hillel decide, he must separate from his wife by Get and 
 Chalttzah, and from his sister-in-law by Ghalitzali. To this case was 
 the remark applied : " Unhappy he, for the [loss of] his wife, and 
 unhappy he for [the loss of] his sister-in-law." 
 
 § 6. When, of three brothers, two are married to two sisters, and 
 one to a stranger : if one of them who married the sisters died, and the 
 brother who had married the stranger marries the Avidow, and then also 
 dies, the first widow is released as sister of his wife and the second as 
 her rival, but if he p.e., the second deceased] had only promised marriage 
 to the widow, the stranger must perform the ceremony of Ghalitzali ; but 
 the brother-in-law^ may not marry her by Yehoom. When, of three 
 brothers, two married two sisters, and the third a stranger : should the 
 brother who married the stranger die, and one of those who had married 
 the sisters, marries the widow, and also dies, the one widow is free, as 
 being a wife's sister, and the other as her rival ; but if he only promised 
 marriage to the stranger, and then dies, she must perform Chalitzahj and 
 may not be married to her brother-in-law by Yehoom. 
 
 § 7. When, of three brothers, two are married to two sisters, and 
 one to a stranger : if one of them who married the sisters died, and he 
 who had married the stranger marries the widow, and then the wife of 
 the second brother dies, and also the third brother, who had married the 
 stranger, then the widow will be for ever prohibited to the second, or 
 surviving brother, because she was for some time prohibited to him [as 
 wife's sister]. 
 
 When, of three brothers, two were married to two sisters, and one to 
 a stranger, if it should happen that one of those married to the sisters, 
 divorced his wife ; and that the brother married to the stranger died, and 
 the widow was married to the brother who gave the divorce, and that 
 this latter also died, then the following rule becomes applicable j — 
 namely, that in all cases where the husbands died, or when the woman 
 had been divorced, their rivals are permitted to marry. 
 
 § 9. When, of two brothers married to two sisters, one dies^ and 
 afterwards the wife of the surviving brother also dies, then he may never
 
 13 
 
 many his brother's widow ; because, there was a time when she was 
 prohibited to liim, [namely, during the life of his wife, her sister"]. 
 
 Chap. TV., § 8. If the brother of one who had Chalitzah performed 
 to him by his sister-in-law, marries her sister and dies, she is bound to 
 perform Chalitzah^ but may not be married to her brother-in-law by 
 Yehoom, but when a person had divorced his wife, and his brother 
 marries her sister and dies, she is released both from Chalitzah and from 
 Yehoom. 
 
 Chap. XI., § 1. A man may lawfully marry the near relatives 
 of a woman whom he has violated or seduced, but he who has either 
 violated or seduced the near relatives of his wife, has become guilty of 
 incest. 
 
 Chap. XIII., § 7. When two brothers are married to two sisters who 
 are minors and orphans, and the husband of one dies, then the widow is 
 released from Yehoom, as the sister of the brother-in-law's wife : — When 
 one of the sisters has attained her majority, and the other is yet a minor, 
 should the minor's husband die she is released from Yehoom, as sister of 
 the brother-in-law's wife. R. Eleazar says, '' When the husband of the 
 elder dies, the youngest sister must be instructed to refuse." Rabbon 
 Gamaliel saith, ^^ If she refuses it is well ; if not, let her wait till she 
 obtains her majority ; and then her sister will be released as a wife's 
 sister," R. Joshua saith, " Such a man deserves commisseration, on 
 account of his own wife, and his sister-in-law, because he must part 
 with his wife by a Get, and is bound to receive Chalitzah from his 
 sister-in-law." 
 
 Chap. XIV., § 3. When two brothers who are deaf and dumb are 
 married to two women who are in the same state who are sisters to each 
 other, or to two sisters who are sound, or that one is sound and the other 
 deaf and dumb, or two deaf and dumb sisters married to two brothers 
 who are sound, or to two brothers who are thus afflicted, or that one 
 of the brothers is deaf and dumb, and the other sound, then in all the 
 mentioned cases the sisters are released from the obligation of Yehoom 
 and Chalitzah. When the deaf and dumb females are not related to 
 each other, the surviving brother^ must marry the widow by Yebooin, but 
 may divorce them afterwards. 
 
 Chap. XV., § 10. For a woman is not entitled to full credence 
 when she says, " My brother-in-law died," as [it is possible] she makes 
 that assertion only [to be permitted] to marry again. Neither when she
 
 14 
 
 says, '' My sister died," so as to enable her to be married to her brother- 
 in-law. A man also is not to be believed on his own assertion, when he 
 says, ''My wife died," as it is possible he may wish to marry her sister.* 
 
 " Whilst the spirit of prophecy continued, (says the Rev. J. B. 
 Smith, D.D., in his Manual of Theology), there were no religious sects 
 amongst the Jews ; the authority of the Prophets preventing difference 
 of opinion. The different sects afterwards sprang up gradually after the 
 return from the Babylonish captivity." 
 
 After a time the Scribes or Rabbins became divided into two Houses 
 (from Beth a house) or Schools of thought, Beth Hillell, Beth Shammai. 
 The former are said to have adhered strictly to the Divine Law, while 
 the latter were prone to relax in respect of various parts of it. With 
 regard to divorce it was the same, but we cannot say to which of them it 
 was that our Lord said " Ye make the Law of God of none effect 
 through your traditions ; " but that Dr. Smith states, that the Scribes, the 
 Doctors of the Law, usually belonged to the Sect of the Pliarisees. 
 
 The fact to which 1 wish to draw attention, and to maintain, 
 is, that from those seven chapters, and one section alone § 8 from 
 Chapter IV., I have quoted in extenso all the legitimate sections of the 
 Treatise Yehamoth which, in the whole Treatise, bear in any way upon 
 the subject of marriage with a deceased wife's sister ; and they apparently 
 exhaust the subject ; and that if any single sentence, of any section 
 quoted, can be held to authorise such marriage, it cannot be genuine and 
 of the date of our Saviour's Ministry; and that any passage of a later 
 date upon the subject cannot have the authority of Antiquity, but is 
 simply what a Hebrew would call hosli : for our Lord's censures of the 
 ^' traditions " were very numerous, very specific and very severe. Our 
 Lord seemed never to lose an opportunity when, whether from accident 
 or otherwise, it arose : yet when the Sadducee (Matthew xxii., 23-34) 
 brought under His notice the whole subject of tlie Yehoonij and certainly 
 carried it out to the (n—iy^', though the occasion was so favourable for 
 censure, if any existed in the carrying out of the law of the Yehoom by 
 the Jews at that time, not a word of censure was given ! ! 
 
 Your Honourable House, therefore, may rest well assured, that the 
 numerous sections quoted herein, from those eight chapters, seem to 
 
 Note. — * These sentences, as well as in chapter X., § 5, are spurious.
 
 15 
 
 have been considered, by the compilers of them, to exhaust the subject : 
 for indeed Chapter IV., § 8, though incidentally supporting me, is almost 
 beyond the question at issue; and nothing upon the subject contradicting 
 the five * can be genuine. Chapter IV. commences an entirely different 
 subject. 
 
 It was not until the second century after Christ, that the Oral 
 traditions, in the state to which they had then grown, were collected into 
 six books called the Mishnaj or Repetition of the Oral Law: and it was 
 not, I think, till the sixth century, that the celebrated Commentaries were 
 written upon them by Maimonides, a very learned Jew. The Com- 
 mentaries were called Gemara^ meaning complement, the Mishna and 
 Gemara together making up the Talmud ; of which there are two, the 
 Jerusalem, and the Babylonian ; and after a time vowel points were 
 invented and added, and accents also, to prevent the loss of the pro- 
 nunciation of the Hebrew Language. 
 
 As for the two sections foisted upon the British public and society 
 in a pamphlet by Dr. McCaul, D.D., a paid writer, I believe so far, for 
 the Marriage Law Reform Society ; what will not men write for money ? 
 He begins with the cool statement, that ^'Chapter iv. 13 has the following 
 passage which is decisive upon the point : — '^^^"J owii ' 
 
 ^' If his wife die, he is allowed to marry her sister ; " and he winds 
 up with the following assertion : — ^' This is a general and straight-forward 
 declaration of the law" — a statement the very reverse of the truth ! ! ! 
 
 This marvellous passage, utterly at variance with all the sections 
 quoted from those six chapters, which decide the question if words 
 can, is said to be found where such a passage might be expected to be 
 found, just at the end of a long chapter of twelve sections on a different 
 subject: but it will, I trust, be satisfactory to learn, that the Reverend 
 Rabbins De Sola and Raphall have not given it a place in this their 
 translation of the Mishna ; and that it is a spurious interpolation subse- 
 quent to the year 1509, in which R. Ob. Bartenora's celebrated 
 Commentary was written, and which does not mention it; and prior to 
 the year 1578. Moses Iserles, in his remarkable edition of the Shulchan 
 Aruch, 1580, calls them '' Emendations " ! ! ! 
 
 Of the Shulchan Aruch Wolf, in his Bibliotheca Hebroea, says 
 '' R. Joseph Caro, the son of Ephraim the Spaniard, born A.M. 5300, 
 A.D. 1540. He wrote the Shulchan Aruch, mensa instructa, or Table 
 
 Note.—* Chapters I., XL, III., XL, and XIII.
 
 16 
 
 prepared^ &g. A compendium of his (Joseph Caro's) Commentary on Arha 
 Thuinm, which is called Beth Joseph, whence also it is accustomed to be 
 called'JT7/e Short or Abridged Book. Brought out at Venice, 1567, fol. &c. 
 
 '' Afterwards the same book, with additions, annotations, and new 
 expositions, rites and ceremonies received in the Synagogues of the 
 German Jews, saw the light, under the care of Moses Iserles, of Cracow, 
 A.D. 1578, and the same in 1580 and 1594, fol." 
 
 I have a volume, or part of another edition 1775 before me, entitled 
 '' Sententioe Rabbinorum collectoe a R. Joseph Karo. Inter cetera juris 
 Hebraici capita in libro Shulchan Aruch dicto per R. Mosen Iserles 
 emendato atque suppleto. In linguam Latinam vertit C. Q. Meyer, Edi 
 curavit atque additiones adjecit C H. Stuck. — Haloe Magdeburgicce 
 
 1775, 8vo." Zi^"\vqti 
 
 One of the ^' Emendations " may be thus translated. " But even 
 should he have children, and betroth himself to his deceased wife's 
 sister, he may marry her immediately after the seven days' mourning ; 
 for she will have more care for the children of her sister than another 
 will have.'' This passage is .not to be found in the first edition. 
 
 This " Emendation " so audaciously and deceptively quoted before 
 the Royal Commission by Dr. N. Adler, the Chief Rabbi of the German 
 Jews in England, as if it had formed a part of the original Shulchan 
 Aruch itself, is based upon the spurious interpolation in the Mishna in the 
 Treatise Yebamoth, tacked on, so to speak, at the end of Chapter iv. § 13. 
 
 This remarkable edition with the '' Emendations" by Moses Iserles, 
 printed in 1580, enables us to arrive at an approximation to the dates at 
 which the corruptions were made. Thus the most gross interpolation, 
 namely, that in the Treatise Yebamoth, at the end of Chapter IV., § 13, 
 is certainly subsequent to the year 1509, in which R. Ob. Bartenora's 
 celebrated Commentary was written, which does not comment upon it, 
 although it comments upon all the passages to which it is utterly 
 antagonistic : while it was certainly interpolated on or before the year 
 1578 : as this " Emendation," of that date, to the Shulchan Aruch, is 
 solely and entirely based upon it. 
 
 That the perpetrations of these gross corruptions, in the book-s in 
 the hands of some of the European sects of the Jews, resulted from the 
 apostatizing example set by Pope Alexander VI. (the infamous Borgia) 
 in granting those Dispensations to the two kings, Emanuel of Portugal 
 and Ferdinand II of Sicily; the one to marry his deceased wife's sister,
 
 17 
 
 and the other his aunt; may be readily conceived; especially when we 
 call to mind certain facts in the history of Spain and Portugal, which 
 occurred towards the end of the XY. century. 
 
 Under the persecutions of Ferdinand and Isabella, the Jews had 
 been expelled from Spain, and the unfortunate exiles had settled in 
 Portugal. When their daughter, Isabelle of Castille, was to be espoused 
 to Emanuel of Portugal, that Princess demanded, as one of her con- 
 ditions, that the Jews should be further expelled from Portugal. This 
 demand does not appear to have been fully complied with, but a com- 
 promise to have been substituted for it. llie king, carried away by his 
 passion, issued an ordinance, that all Jewish children should be baptized; 
 and history records that many Jews cut their children's throats rather 
 than submit to this tyranny. This marriage took place on August 11th, 
 1497. She died August 24th, 1498. On August 30th, 1500, King 
 Emanuel married her sister, the Princess Marie de Castille : and it was 
 to legalize this marriage with his deceased wife's sister that he obtained 
 the Dispensation of Pope Alexander VI. 
 
 Direct evidence of the following not having been as yet obtained, 
 the suggestion alone can be advanced, that the unfortunate Jews in 
 Portugal, by w^ay of a concession to this new Queen of Portugal, to 
 avoid further persecution, consented to corrupt tlieir books. Your 
 Lordships, however, may be thankful to remember, that there are the 
 Orthodox Jews, and the Karaites, who have not been led so to corrupt 
 their books, and are not defiled with any of these abominations ; of 
 which full evidence has been already given in respect of the universal 
 prohibition of these incestuous marriages among all the sects of the Jews 
 which were in existence, under whatever name, at the time that Our Lord 
 appeared upon earth. 
 
 For the second passage for which Dr. McCaul appeals to Antiquity 
 forsooth, saying " Antiquity is also my favourite argument ; " I yet find 
 not the smallest evidence to shew that it was known at the date of 
 the Commentaries of Maimonides : and yet he asserts that ''knowing that 
 before the Advent of the Saviour, and in the days of the Apostles, 
 marriage with a deceased wife's sister was by Jews and Gentiles, con- 
 sidered lawful, a prohibition of the marriage, either by Peter the Apostle 
 of the Circumcision, or Paul the preacher to the Gentiles, or indeed by 
 any of the Apostles, would have been tantamount to a repeal of the 
 permission contained in Leviticus xviii. 18."
 
 18 
 
 And yet this man was a Clergyman of the Church of England, and 
 knew that '' Jesus answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that 
 he which made them at the beginning made them male and female, and 
 said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave 
 to his wife : and they twain shall be one flesh ? Wherefore they are no 
 more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, 
 let not man put asunder." (Matthew xix., 4-7.) He knew again that 
 " Paul the preacher to the Gentiles," but apparently to little purpose to 
 Dr. McCaul, quoted thus : — ^"^ For this cause shall a man leave his father 
 and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one 
 flesh. This is a great mystery : " 
 
 What then is the solution of this mystery? What the meaning of 
 a man's leaving father and mother? And of being joined unto a wife 
 until they both become one flesh ? For answers let us turn to Nature. 
 
 I. The solution of the mystery will be found in the fact that man, as 
 well as other warm-blooded creatures, is an electric animal ; and that all 
 the processes of his system are carried on by means of, or in conjunction 
 with, that electricity, and that without it there would be no life. What 
 is the origin of an human being? By electricity an embryo is produced 
 from the blood of the male and impregnates the female ; but without the 
 spark of electricity life is not imparted with it. During its growth day 
 by day the male electricity of it creates a gradual physical change in the 
 mother, and the same during the time that she is suckling the infant. 
 All through infancy and youth the electricity of the ofl^spring is one with 
 that of the parents ; and so with a whole family, their electricity is all one ; 
 and all the vital processes in each individual proceed by means of that 
 joint electricity ; and if one of them become fatigued, or exhausted, or ill, 
 that joint family electricity will greatly restore and renovate his strength. 
 In cases of illness a very great error is frequently committed through 
 ignorance of this fact. A mother perhaps is ill, and a daughter attends 
 upon her constantly, jealous of anyone taking her place by the bed side. 
 The old servants entreat her to take rest in bed, food, fresh air. The old 
 answer, "oh! do not think of me." Meals are irregular, sleep broken, 
 snatched, sitting dressed in a huge square arm-chair, and air bad : while 
 the poor girl fancies that she is helping her mother by this self sacrifice ! 
 
 Such a proceeding is a great error ! She becomes utterly worn out J 
 little thinking, that when smoothing her mother's pillow, while in that 
 exhausted state, she is seriously injuring her mother while unknowingly
 
 19 
 
 withdrawing electricity from her into herself: whereas she, and all persons 
 in immediate attendance upon the invalide, ought to keep up their strength 
 by every possible means by food, sleep and fresh air: that they may, 
 though unknowingly, impart electricity to her who so greatly needs it. 
 
 When, however, a son, one of the family, marries, then the word of 
 the Lord is fulfilled. He leaves the joint electricity of the father and 
 the mother, and becomes joined to the electricity of the bride, and they 
 two become one electricity. The man's is positive electricity, the woman's 
 is negative: and, thus united, they become one electric battery; a circular 
 current of electricity continuously passing through them. From that 
 moment all the processes in the system of each proceed by help of the 
 joint electricity of both: and, as they go on growing in bulk or stature, 
 (which if they marry under twenty years of age tliey may well do), the 
 flesh of each becomes gradually assimilated to that of the other; and 
 also, in after years, by the continual renovation of continual exhaustion. 
 The rites of marriage, which are honourable among all men, will greatly 
 facilitate this physical change of each into flesh of each other's flesh. 
 
 By the time that persons who married at twenty have become 
 twenty-six, they will each have increased several stones in weight, all 
 increased under the influence of their joint electricity: and their previous 
 persons will, at the same time, have been undergoing a great physical 
 change. Thus the husband has become very greatly assimilated in flesh 
 to that of his wife's near of kin, and she has become very greatly 
 assimilated in flesh to that of her husband's near of kin: They have, in 
 each case, become blood relations to them ! ! 
 
 II. But there is a second oft-repeated pliasis of Nature, but very seldom 
 indeed perhaps understood; to which I will appeal in support of the case 
 already proved ; while the proof given accounts for the fact. 
 
 When the mother of a young family loses her husband, but is 
 prevailed upon to marry again ; it has been observed that at least the 
 first child of the second marriage resembles the former husband. Such a 
 phenomenon has been attributed to unchanged, undying affection, though 
 having nothing whatever to do with it. The true reason is to be found 
 in the truthfulness of the holy word of God, that she had undergone that 
 physical change consequent upon marriage, and had become flesh of the 
 flesh of her former husband ! 
 
 But some may say, If this be so, it is not the rite of marriage at all, 
 but rites which might take place without marriage !
 
 20 
 
 Such I would indeed at once refer to St. Paul 1 Corinthians vi., 
 15, 16, " What know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one 
 body? for two, saith he, shall be one flesh." All which serves to prove 
 the truth of my case, and that Dr. McCaul was wrong every way ; but 
 not that " it is not the rite of marriage at all : " for God forbids immoral 
 carnal intercourse ; but the rites of marriage were instituted of Grod, as 
 part and parcel of marriage, and are honourable among all men. 
 
 III. A third proof from Nature is the well-known fact, that if a mare 
 breed a mule, and be afterwards used for ordinary breeding purposes, 
 her progeny will all have the black line along the back and across the 
 withers, or other characteristic peculiar to the donkey, the sire of the 
 mule she had previously bred. 
 
 IV. A fourth proof from Nature is the fact, that in no kennel of hounds 
 would the huntsman breed from a hound, however staunch and well 
 bred, which had ever had a litter of puppies by a dog of another species. 
 In well regulated hunting establishments such an incident could not 
 occur ; but the fact would be known that the puppies, however well bred 
 the sire, would shew strong traces of that former dog of the other 
 species. In gamekeepers' kennels such crosses, and the subsequent 
 certain phenomena, are more likely to occur ; and such men express such 
 a Avell known phenomenon by their technical term ^' breeding hack;^'' 
 usually saying ^' she throios hacky Verbum sapientibus ! 
 
 Such having been thus proved to demonstration indisputably from 
 Nature, I beg leave to submit, that the present terms of the Tables of 
 Consanguinity and Affinity, should be changed to those of — 
 Consanguinity by Birth, and 
 Consanguinity by ]\Iarriage. 
 
 I have the honour to be. 
 
 Your obedient and very humble Servant, MiJj^i \i['i 
 
 THOMAS BERNEY^ .^^ 
 
 Rector and Officiating Mimsier, 
 Braonn Ash.
 
 21 
 
 4111114 
 
 9 
 
 AN AMENDED VERSION OF PORTIONS OF THE 
 HOLY SCRIPTURES. 
 
 Genisis. 
 Chapter I. 
 21. And God created tlic great dragons, 
 
 Leviticus. 
 
 Chapter XVIII. 
 
 611. None of you shall approach to any that is near of kin to him, 
 to commit incest : I am the Lord. 
 
 7. Incest with thy father, or incest with thy mother thou shalt not 
 commit : she is thy mother : thou shalt not commit incest with her. 
 
 8. Incest with thy father's wife thou shalt not commit : it is incest 
 with thy father. 
 
 9. Incest with thy sister, the daughter of thy father, or daughter 
 of thy mother, whether she he born at home or abroad, even with them 
 thou shalt not commit incest. 
 
 10. Incest with thy son's daughter, or with thy daughter's daugliter, 
 even with them thou shalt not commit incest : for incest with them is 
 incest with thyself. 
 
 11. Incest with thy father's wife's daughter, begotten of thy father, 
 she is thy sister, thou shalt not commit incest with her. 
 
 12. Incest with thy father's sister thou shalt not commit : slie is 
 thy father's near kinswoman. 
 
 13. Incest thou shalt not commit with thy m^other's sister : for siie 
 is thy mother's near kinswoman. 
 
 14. Incest with thy father's brother thou shalt not commit : thou 
 shalt not approach to his wife : she is thine aunt. 
 
 15. Incest with thy daughter-in-law thou shalt not commit : she is 
 thy son's wife ; thou shalt not commit incest with her.
 
 22 
 
 16. Incest with thy brother's wife thou shalt not commit: it is 
 incest with thy brother. 
 
 17. Incest thou shalt not commit with a woman and her daugliter,H 
 neither shalt thou take her son's daughter, or her daughter's daughter, 
 to commit incest with her: for they are her near kinswomen: it is 
 wickedness. ^ :t lo Josqasi ni 
 
 18. Neither shalt thou take a wife to her sister, even though one<: 
 after theptherj to commit incest >Yith he^:, Qy^^jc hex^rtQiYQ^ker imheriliictw 
 
 '?(-'• r^R •:)ih 'k^ -''wrfr^vr'" ^fft ,t>rrrtr Tnrl) ^n ,^niI')ot hitu ih'm'jyjh nood 
 
 *^ ^^* ' nioa-gi X1QY sd ^ad^ gsafm; 
 
 - ui/rt ^; ix/i) vjii^iuiii. Chapter XlXtp of griiinovBsbno ^o ^tisBSDari 
 
 26: And '^i^^ after my skin worms de^hyiYiis'hS^y^m'^i^ 
 
 my flesh shall I see God. -.niinrn'/rgla 
 
 spbalq nmolos 'ihrh hv:y^n no -gahhiq ^saoqiuq Jad) i6i 88UoH 
 
 u/ iiadJ svi-g xrijj'gjs tfa/o/- ' ^d.t .tnoJoqimnO boO bio J sit 
 
 ,:. .r .,* ,...,... r.r ..Chapter XIX.,...! v. ! •, .,: ./,,„ .,,, ,,,t 
 
 Part of 35. Ye men of Ephesus, what man is there who knowethb 
 not how that the city of the Ephesians is temple-keeper of the great-:. 
 Goddess Diana, and of the image which has descended to us from th&x 
 time of Jupiter ? i t 
 
 p.u frro*'' 'R 7?fTro!='-^[d ptH hnn ,F>'?'f'>bfTfd Ion gd 
 
 Genisis i. 21. hatanniriim, The c?m^ow5',^"Compounded'6f 7ia^ 'dfef.'ktfclj ' 
 thej and ^a72?2/72 from ^a^ia/i, to drag itself forward m a zig-zag manner (as ' 
 one writer explains it), and as we see all Water-newts, Lizards and 
 Crocodiles, and no doubt all Saurions, do. Hence the generic term 
 Dragon is peculiarly appropriate. They who liave visited the fossil 
 department of the British Museum, and have seen, not only the fossil 
 skeletons like Crocodiles (one thirty feet in length by comparative 
 measurement), but also others with enormous fore-feet with six long 
 tapered and webbed toes, possibly usable, like wings acting horizontally, 
 to assist them skimming with speed upon the surface of the water, and 
 long swan-like necks and small heads, can have any more doubt than I 
 have, that the usually-supposed mythical history of St. George and 
 the Dragon is perfectly true ; and may anticipate that some day such 
 fossil dragons may be found in the ancient bed of the Euphrates. 
 
 Leviticus xviii., G-10. The Noble Peers and Honourable Members
 
 23 
 
 of the Legislature, who will read this version of Holy Scripture, with a 
 prayerful desire to search for truth as it is before God, and with con- 
 fidence that I would not willingly deceive them ; cannot but feel that 
 very many Members of each House of the Legislature have repeatedly 
 been guilty of very great " wickedness " by the votes they have given 
 in respect of this subject ; albeit, the same may be required of the souls 
 of Dr. McCaul and Dr. N. Adler, and other like panderers to incest, 
 whether for filthy lucre's sake or otherwise, by whom they may have 
 been deceived : and feeling, as they must, the awfulness of the situation, 
 unless they be very ignorant of sacred prophecy, they may see the dire 
 necessity of endeavouring to appease the wrath of Almighty God by some 
 solemn affirmation by every member of each House respectively, with their 
 sign-manual, to a suitable document to lie on the table in their respective 
 House for that purpose, putting on record their solemn pledge before 
 the Lord God Omnipotent, that they will never again give their vote 
 for, or pair in favour of, any Bill or Measure whatsoever, to legalise 
 the marriage of a man with his deceased Wife's Sister; or with his 
 Aunt; or with his Niece; nor in any other manner whatsoever render 
 assistance to such a Measure: that the prayers of the Nation for the 
 blessing of the God of battles upon our armies and upon our Country 
 be not hindered, and His blessing alienated from us. 
 
 Acts xix., 35. It is known that Nimrod (Gen. x. 8-12) (whence the 
 city Nimroud), Asshur, The Mighty One^ alias Ninus, King of Assyria 
 and his Queen Semiramis were worshipped, after death, by different 
 nations under different names. They w^ere the Osiris and Isis of the 
 Egyptians. In symbolical language heaven represents regal power and 
 status yihQ Sun represents the ^m^ and the Moo7i the queen. As Zeus 
 by the Greeks, and as Jupiter by the Eomans, Nimrod was called The 
 King of the Gods; while among the Assyrians Semiramis was worshipped 
 under the name of Astarte, The Shining-one, and was called The Queen 
 of heaven, while by the Romans she was worshipped as Venus. Zeus by 
 Leto, or Jupiter by Latona, is stated to have begotten the twins, Apollo 
 or Phoebus represented by the Sun, the worship of which Nimrod intro- 
 duced, and Artemis, the Diana of the Romans, represented by the Moon. 
 i.riTo suppose that a nation that produced Solon and Archimedes, the 
 sculptors Phidias and Praxiteles, and others who could carve the Apollo 
 Belvedere, and the Venus de Medecis, and that life-like head of Apollo 
 in the British Museum (though there ignorantly named a woman), could
 
 24 
 
 believe that the marble bust of Diana '^ fell down from " the planet 
 " Jupiter " or '' from heaven " seems to me to be perfectly puerile. 
 
 In conclusion, I beg leave most respectfully to remind your 
 Honourable House, that we are already within the final period at the 
 time of the end predicted in sacred prophecy, during which there shall 
 be wars more terrible than the Avorld has ever before seen; of which the 
 Franco-Prussian war, with an army of four hundred thousand men on 
 the loosing side, has already afforded an example ; with accessaries 
 achieving what the Psalmist's words might figuratively have foretold ; 
 engines of war, which have ^' shot forth hailstones and coals of fire"; 
 mitrailleuses shooting forth a storm of bullets as thick as hail, and live 
 shrapnel shells : and, therefore^ that the present system in the army of 
 superseding highly valuable officers, colonels of regiments and of great 
 experience, merely because the requirements of the service have not for 
 some time called them into so-called active service, though full of energy 
 and zeal, and carrying out every thing under their command to perfection, 
 is utterly inconsistent with the exigencies of the situation ! 
 
 I will suggest, and with certain confidence in its necessity, that, 
 wherever, according to the present system, the colonel of a regiment 
 would soon be superseded and the junior colonel take his place, the 
 colonel, if willing, should be retained in the command of his regiment ; 
 and that the said junior colonel should be put in command of a ncAV 
 regiment, to be raised at once and to be added to the service ! 
 
 Furthermore I will suggest, that wherever an energetic and 
 experienced colonel has been so superseded under the present law, and 
 be willing, he should be reinstated in his former command ; but with 
 such rank and pay as the expediency of the case may require : and 
 that a new regiment should be immediately raised, and be placed under 
 the command of the junior officer who had superseded him I 
 
 I have the honour to be. 
 Your obedient and very humble Servant, 
 
 THOMAS BERNEY, 
 
 Rector and Officiating Minister, 
 Braeon Ash.
 
 mni: 
 
 
 mm 
 
 SL'^i^^l 
 
 n '^ ' * 1 ^ 
 
 Blfc-MmflBI 
 
 f^ ^^^ 
 
 
 »^(lBfeca^t 
 
 
 
 /A 
 
 k ^^ 
 
 ^n 
 
 ^!^S 
 
 fiw^, vJ^SS 
 
 
 l^jpl^H^ 
 
 *^s 
 
 
 ti'^ 
 
 ^^ 
 
 WlkMrt-tt 
 
 mJtam 
 
 <^. 
 
 ''^'i 
 
 
 fe:«fc:;M. ''^